Loop-the-loop bowling-alley.



No. 733,558. PATLNTBD SEPT. a, '1903.

L. w. MADDAUS. Loop TEL Loop. BOWLING ALLEY.

.APPLICATION FILEDDOT. 11. 1902.

No MODEL. V

ivo. reacts. Y.

NITED l STATES Patented September 8, IQOA ATENT .A l, trice.

LooP-THE-Loop BOWLING-ALLEY.

PECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 738,558, dated September8, 1903.

Application filed October 11,1902. Serial No. 126,913. (No model.)

To all whom :it may concern:

Be it known that I, Louis W. MADDAUS, o the city of Minneapolis, inthecounty of Hennepin, State of Minnesota, have invented certain new andAuseful Improvements in Loopthe-Loop Bowling-Alleys,` of which thefollowing is a specification.` y

The invention relates to parlor games; and

` the object of the invention is to provide a toy l a runway 11.

bowling-alley which will embody on a small scale all the essentialfeatures of a full-sized alley and has in addition thereto tocompensate, in a measure, for the difference in length a peculiarball-delivering appliance, which will add materially to the uncertaintyof hitting a pin.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following detaileddescription.

The invention consists generally in various constructions andcombinations, all as hereinafter described, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure1 is a plan view of a toy bowling-alley embodying my invention. Fig. 2is a longitudinal section of the same, and Fig. 3 is a transversesection on the line o: :z: of Fig. I.

In the drawings, 2 represents a rectangular Hoor or plate having sides 3and ends 4 and provided near said sides with guttersor troughs 5 andwitha raised central portion 6. These glitters unite with a broaderdepression ortrough 7 at the end of the alley, and I prefer to provide acurved plate 8 in said trough 7 to prevent the balls and pins fromrolling into the corners during the progress ofthe game.l The floor orplate, with the side `and end troughs and the raised middle portion,conforms, substantially on a small scale, to the construction of anordinary bowling-alley.' The iioor is made of'any suitable length thatcan be 'conveniently placed on a table or other level support. Near theopposite end of the floor from the gutter 7 I pro- Vide a wall 9,having` near the top a hole 10, through which the balls may be deliveredto This runway extends down to the floor at any desired inclination, andat its lower end is connected with a loop 12, the discharge end 13 ofwhich is arranged near the middle of the raised portion 6 and is adaptedto direct the balls passing through the loop out upon the raised portion6 toward the pins 14, provided near the opposite end of the oor.

I am aware that loops hav-e been employed heretofore for dischargingballs againsta series of pins or into depressions arranged upon or in adoor; but these loops have been made of wood or metal `and of unyieldingconstruction, and I have found that when the balls pass down the runwayand into the loop that the bend or turn is so abrnpton the upside andthe ball is arrested so quickly as it climbs toward the top of the loopthat the centrifugal force is not sufficient to overcome gravity and the`ball will frequently drop to the floor without passing around the loop.I have found also from actual experience that if a loop ofl limitedsize, as is necessarily employed in a parlor game, is used that 'it ispractically impossible to make it of `unyielding material and stillsend'the ball around the upside of the loop without checking themomentum of the ballzsufciently to cause it to drop when it reaches thetop of the loop instead of following it around to the discharge end.After considerable eX- perimenting I substituted a loop of flexiblematerial in place of the rigid one, and I found that Vas the ball passedfrom the runway against the upside of the loop that the loop would yieldand not check the speed of the ball as much as Vthe rigid one `did andthat the ball would always travel over the top and around to thedischarge end, which it 4would rarely do where a loop of unyieldingmaterial was employed. I have found' paper a very satisfactory materialto use for the loop, as it will yield wheni the ball strikes the upsideand will have a certain amount of resiliency and notcheck or deaden themomentum of the ball or reduce its speed sufficiently to cause it tofall by gravity while passing over the top of the loop. I prefer to makethe loop quite wide at its discharge end and gradually taper it towardits point of union with the runway to reduce the danger of the ballpassing off the sides, and I may also provide a depression 13 in thedischarge end of the loop,commencing on the downside ofthe same andrunning toward the discharge end and gradually increasing in width toguide the ball past the upside of the loop as it is being dischargedupon the floor and prevent it from going around the loop a second time.

The game may be played with wooden, glass, or porcelain balls ormarbles, those of glass of a certain predetermined size being preferred.

I claim as my inventionl. A toy bowling-alley, comprising a plate orboard provided with a raised central portion and side gutters, aninclined runway provided near one end of said raised portion oppositethe pins arranged at the other end, and a loop arranged vertically onsaid raised portion and having its receiving end opposite the dischargeend of said runway and its discharge end arranged to deliver the ballsupon said raised portion near the middle thereof, and said loop being offlexible material such as paper whereby the upside thereof will yieldwhen struck by a descending ball to facilitate the passage of the ballaround the loop.

2. A toy bowling-alley, comprising a plate or board provided with araised central portion and side gutters, an inclined runway providednear one end of said raised portion, and a loop arranged vertically onsaid board and having its receiving end opposite the discharge end ofsaid runway and its discharge end arranged to deliver the balls uponsaid raised portion, the upside of said loop being substantially dat incross -section and the downside and the discharge end of said loop beingprovided with a central depression and said loop and depressiongradually increasing in width from their receiving toward theirdischarge ends, substantially as described and for the purposespecified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 8th day of October,1902.

LOUIS W. MADDAUS. n

In presence of- RICHARD PAUL, M. C. NooNAN.

